04 February 2016

A Populist Coalition: GOP ethnic minority voters support Trump

Why are minorities telling pollsters they support establishment status quo candidates in 2016? This was my answer on Quora.

Minorities are enthusiastic supporters of some very non-establishment candidates.

Donald Trump counts among his supporters more black and Hispanic people than ANY other Republican presidential candidate, see Donald Trump’s Strongest Supporters: A Certain Kind of Democrat via The New York Times and Trump winning over Latino Republicans, poll says via NY Post.

Recent surveys found that Muslim Republicans are supportive of Trump too, more so than all other Republican presidential candidates combined! Not many Muslims support Republicans, but those who do support Trump; CAIR did the study. If you don't like that link from Vox, here's one from Voice of America: Why Some US Muslims Still Plan to Vote for Donald Trump.

Minorities are often silenced in America

The RAND Corporation's 2016 election survey panel is notable for being longitudinal rather than cross-sectional. It shows that one particular non-establishment candidate is more popular among those who feel they have no say in government. This is true for that one candidate, more so than any other,  whether Republican or Democrat. 

See more here, RAND Kicks Off 2016 Presidential Election Panel Survey in the section titled, "Trump's Populist Coalition".


Political support given to 2016 presidential electoral candidates
U.S. Presidential Election 2016: "People like me don't have any say..."


If one had a flair for the dramatic, one could say that the RAND Corporation has proven that support for Donald Trump transcends voters' gender, age, race/ethnicity, social status, and attitudes towards the disadvantaged.

screenshot of text from RAND study